He bought his land (for a dollar an acre) from a wealthy abolitionist named Gerrit Smith who had established a land grant program for free blacks in hopes of establishing a black community in the Adirondacks called Timbuktoo.

Imagine, a thousand years ago, setting out for Mecca from Timbuktoo, how perilous might be the journey in terms of the Sahara - broiling heat by day, bitter cold by night, shortages of food and water, sandstorms, brigandage and banditry, disease and death the constant stalkers of the caravan.